Say NO to mining in Palawan!

Exactly one month and two days ago, Doc Gerry Ortega was shot inside a clothing store for being an advocate against the mining in Palawan.

Just in case you didn’t know, mining destroys the environment in so many ways. And to be honest, I just found out about that during my Nat Sci 2 and Aqua Sci 1 class this semester. Oo, nakakahiya, but at least I know now. It all starts the toxic waste that is produced from mining goes straight to rivers which destroys the aquatic ecosystem. We all know that Palawan is famous for their BEAUTIFUL coral reefs (as in beautiful talaga), and when the contaminated water hits the ocean, these reefs will be severely affected. Coral reefs act as a home and breeding ground for fish, so whenever corals are destroyed, fish cannot live in them leading to depletion of fish population. Next to farming, fishing is the next ‘popular’ livelihood in the provinces. Kung hindi farmlands ang tinitirahan, dagat naman. If fisher folks don’t have enough fish to catch, this greatly will affect them because they won’t have any other source of income. And if there’s not enough fish to catch, what will they eat? Don’t forget us, too, especially those who give great importance to fish like me. See how it’s all interrelated? Destroying one leads to the destruction of the other. It’s a cycle you wouldn’t want to mess with.

Not only does mining affect the ocean, but it also affects the land. They need to cut down trees in order to mine, and it’s common knowledge that trees play a big role in balancing CO2 in the air. For the ones who just got out of their rocks, CO2 is the culprit to climate change since it is trapped in the atmosphere. If you still want more explanation, read this. It’s really easy to understand, so it should help.

So how can you help? There’s a petition that needs 10,000,000 (yes, that’s a million) votes/signatures to be able to stop mining in Palawan, and all you need to do is click that “Sign the petition” button at the bottom left of the page and sign your name. It will not take you more than 5 minutes, I promise! Also, it would be a great help if you spread the word too. Tell your parents to sign (or sign for them hehehe), your friends, your house-helpers if you have, your uncles, aunts, acquaintances. Post it on Facebook, Tweet it, Tumblr reblog this—everything you can do to help.

Let’s all help make Doc Gerry’s dream come true. Palawan should always be beautiful.

We should all keep this quote I got from a movie that we watced for Aqua Sci (it was about the coral reefs) in our minds and hearts: “Whatever you do to harm the environment will harm you too.”